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Here’s an easy and cost-efficient way to add RS232 serial capability to your industrial setting. This 16-port USB-to-serial adapter hub features a sturdy, rack-mountable chassis, and supports daisy chaining, so you can connect multiple hubs together to increase your serial device port count.

A scalable solution for changing needs

This rack-mountable USB serial hub (FTDI) lets you add 16 serial ports (RS232), with full control from your desktop or laptop computer system using a single USB port. The daisy-chain function gives you a cost-effective and scalable way to increase your serial port count and expand as your needs grow, without investing in a higher cost serial hub.

Providing full control of your serial components from a single device, the USB serial hub is ideal for a multitude of applications including: industrial automation, self-serve automated kiosks, and monitoring of cameras and security systems.

Built-in convenience

The hub features COM port retention, which retains the assigned serial COM port values. This ensures that the same values are automatically re-assigned to the port provided by the adapter, in the event it is disconnected and re-connected to the host computer.

The hub features a reliable FTDI USB-to-serial chipset, which provides easy installation into a broad range of operating systems.

Meets the demands of industrial environments

With its all-metal chassis, this rugged, rack-mountable hub fits into standard 19-inch server storage racks to provide an efficient industrial serial solution. It supports an extended operating temperature range of -40°C to 85°C (-40°F to 185°F), ensuring reliable performance even in the harshest environments. The USB-serial hub includes both an AC adapter and terminal block power, providing versatile power options.

The ICUSB23216FD is backed by a StarTech.com 2-year warranty and free lifetime technical support.

Applications

Ideal for industrial automation on factory and manufacturing floors

Provides full control of your server room serial components from a single device

Control and monitoring of surveillance and security cameras and systems

Data Sheets

Frequently Asked Questions

Installation

Some driver installation packages may require you to disable driver signature enforcement in Windows 8, which will allow unsigned driver packages to be installed on your system.

Note: Before you continue, save any open documents and close all open programs.

To disable driver signature enforcement, complete the following:

Press the Windows key + C.

Click Settings > Change PC Settings.

In the left pane, click General.

In the right pane, under Advanced startup, click Restart now.

When your system finishes restarting, complete the following:

Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.

Press 7.

When your computer restarts, driver signature enforcement will be disabled and you can install your drivers.

Note: When you restart your computer after you install your drivers, driver signature enforcement will be enabled again. This does not prevent your newly installed drivers from working, but does prevent any other unsigned drivers from being installed until driver signature enforcement is disabled.

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Some driver installation packages may require you to disable driver signature enforcement in Windows 8.1, which will allow unsigned driver packages to be installed on your system.

Note: Before you continue, save any open documents and close all open programs.

To disable driver signature enforcement, complete the following:

Press the Windows key + C.

Click Settings > Change PC Settings.

In the left pane, click Update & Recovery.

In the left pane, click Recovery.

Under Advanced startup, click Restart now.

When your system finishes restarting, complete the following:

Click Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.

Press 7.

When your computer restarts, driver signature enforcement will be disabled and you can install your drivers.

Note: When you restart your computer after you install your drivers, driver signature enforcement will be enabled again. This does not prevent your newly installed drivers from working, but does prevent any other unsigned drivers from being installed until driver signature enforcement is disabled.­­­­­­­

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You may need to disable Driver Signature Enforcement in Windows 10 to use some driver installation packages. When you disable this feature, you can install unsigned driver packages on your computer.

Note: Before you continue, save any open documents and close all of your programs. You will need to restart your computer to disable Driver Signature Enforcement.

To disable Driver Signature Enforcement, complete the following:

Click the Windows icon in the taskbar.

Click Power.

Press and hold the Shift key and click Restart.

After your computer finishes restarting, complete the following:

Click Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart.

Press 7.

When your computer finishes restarting, Driver Signature Enforcement will be disabled and you can install the drivers.

Note: When you restart your computer after you install your drivers, driver signature enforcement will be enabled again. This does not prevent your newly installed drivers from working, but does prevent any other unsigned drivers from being installed until driver signature enforcement is disabled.­­­­­­­

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How to

In Device Manager, under the appropriate heading, confirm that your expansion card is listed and that there isn't an exclamation mark next to it. For example, a USB controller card would be under Universal Serial Bus controllers.

Your USB device is listed according to the name of the chipset. To determine the name of the chipset of your USB device, navigate to www.StarTech.com and look on the Technical Specifications tab for your product.

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To confirm that the Mac OS detects your USB device, complete the following:

Click the Apple icon.

Click About This Mac.

Click More Info or System Report.

Under the appropriate heading, confirm that your USB device is listed and that there isn't an error. For example, a network card would be under Ethernet Cards.

You may need to refresh the System Information page after you plug in your device. To do so, press Command + R with the System Information page open.

Your USB device is listed according to the name of the chipset. To determine the name of the chipset of your USB device, navigate to www.StarTech.com and look on the Technical Specifications tab for your product.

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Troubleshooting

Older applications that use serial communication often use legacy hardware addresses that do not work with PCI, PCIe, or USB to Serial products. We recommend contacting the software provider/support team to check if this is the case.

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When you troubleshoot issues with a serial device, there are some quick tests that you can complete to rule out potential problems. You can test to make sure that the following components are working correctly and are not the source of the issue:

Serial cables

Serial ports

Serial devices

To test your setup components, try the following:

Use the serial cable, serial port, and serial device in another setup to see if the problem is with the components or the setup.

Use a different serial cable, serial port, and serial device in your setup to see if the problem persists. Ideally, you should test a component that you know works in another setup.

When you test your cables, it is recommended that you do the following:

Test each cable individually.

Use short cables when you are testing.

When you test the serial ports and serial device, it is recommended that you do the following:

Press the Windows key + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter to open Device Manager. Check to see if your device is listed under Ports (COM & LPT).

Make sure that the COM port number is the correct number for the serial device and that the software being used to connect the computer to the serial device uses the correct COM port number.

If the device is listed with an error, follow the instructions on the website to reinstall the drivers.

Note: Some serial devices work only if the COM port number is between a certain range. For example, COM1 to COM4.

Note: To open a telnet session on the COM port, you need a telnet client like PuTTY or Hyper Terminal. Windows XP comes with Hyper Terminal.

When the session is open, anything you type into it you should see. The loopback test fails when you cannot see what you are typing.

If the loopback test fails, make sure that the serial cable or gender changer that you are using works and that the adapter is in the correct port.

You can check multiple ports at the same time by opening multiple sessions, putting the loopback adapter on one port, and trying to type into each session. When you can see what you are typing, you know that the COM port is working and you can see which port number the physical serial port is. Close the window for the port that you just tested to speed up the testing of the remaining serial ports.

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Common Issues

Use a USB to Serial product that features COM Port Retention. These products will store settings that are unique to the connected device in non-volatile memory, allowing you to retain the desired settings regardless of the USB Port to which the adapter is connected.